Sun Dasi, an independent musician, and SHEN QI XIAN XING, an art collective, presented their latest music performance Going to Shanghai on Saturday 27 April evening . Integrating original folk songs, field recordings, covers of Shanghai-POP, and conversations with AI, their performance seamlessly moves between concerts, theater, and sketches, aiming to not only renew the conceptions of performing and singing, but also reinterpret the local history, civic culture, and the conditions of individuals in motion.
At the invitation of Khek Dhang Ke, a community-based research project at the Rockbund Art Museum, SHEN QI XIAN XING shuttled through the Bund area between 2020 and 2023 when the public health crisis broke out. They smelled the odour of disinfectant and the rich scents of the Bund's history since its opening to foreign trade. They witnessed the closure and reopening of the city, as well as the relocation of the last residents of the Bund area. Drawing inspiration from their experiences, SHEN QI XIAN XING attempts to parse memorable stories and immutable principles, the reason for which Shanghai is Shanghai, and the possible future of Shanghai.
Through this, SHEN QI XIAN XING reaped their harvest with the music album WHERE ARE YOU MOVING TO?, the text "The Unofficial History of Wild Men", and moving images. Taking the opportunity of re-examining Shanghai-POP history at the Rockbund Art Museum, SHEN QI XIAN XING will integrate the album's music, text and moving images into a multi-dimensional performance interweaving the past, present and future, with truth and fiction.
Performers：
Sun Dasi (b. 1981, Shanghai) works and lives in Shanghai as an independent musician and artist. Since 2013, they have released physical albums, documentary digital soundtracks, and digital EPs including Innocent in Your Presence (2013), Where There Are Magpies, There Are No Crows (2015), White Nights Past (2018), Don't Be Afraid of a Small Boat (2020), Wrecking Chan Acquaintance (2021) and Can Your Home See the Oriental Pearl Tower? (2023), and more.
Founded in July 2020, SHEN QI XIAN XING is an art collective rooted in Shanghai. The main members are Sun Dasi, Zhang Lihua, and Jianwen. SHEN QI XIAN XING continuously explores urban landscapes, and endeavors to bring the communicable "results" back into the public space. They are more interested in the “logical” processes and methods that lead from "inspiration" to the presentation of the work, alongside the energetic connections formed between individuals throughout the artistic process.
独立音乐人孙大肆与“神炁现形”艺术小组在4月27日周六晚上演最新演唱会剧目《到上海去》。她们的表演融合了原创民谣、环境录音、时代曲翻唱、AI对话等形式，在演唱会、戏剧、相声间来回跳跃，意在通过对“演”和“唱”的全新理解，诠释在上海这片土壤上生长出的本地历史、市民文化和流动中人的现状。
受上海外滩美术馆社区研究项目“客堂间”（Khek Dhang Ke）的邀约，在2020-2023年期间，也就是公共卫生危机爆发的那几年，“神炁现形”艺术小组穿梭于外滩周边的区域，嗅出消毒水的味道，也嗅出自开埠以来上海滩历史的味道；见证了区域的闭合，也见证了外滩区域内最后的老城厢居民的迁徙。“神炁现形”试图从中解析出值得纪念的故事和亘古不变的道理、解析出上海之所以是上海的缘由、解析出上海未来可能的轮廓。
这个过程中产出的成果有音乐专辑《你的家看得见东方明珠塔吗？》、文本《人来疯野史》及一些影像资料。借着上海外滩美术馆此次重新审视时代曲历史的契机，“神炁现形”将专辑音乐、文本、影像综合成剧场表演，为观众带来将过去、现在、未来、真实和虚构交织在一起的一场多维度体验。
表演者：
孙大肆（1981年出生于上海）作为独立音乐人、艺术工作者现生活工作于上海。从2013年起她先后发行实体专辑、纪录片数字原声和数字EP包括：《在你面前很无邪》（2013）、《有喜鹊的地方就没有乌鸦》（2015）、《白夜往事》（2018）、《不要怕船小》（2020）、《肆陈相识》（2021）和《你的家看得见东方明珠塔吗？》（2023）等。
“神炁现形”是一个驻扎于上海的艺术小组，成立于2020年7月。主要成员有:孙大肆、张丽华、Jianwen。“神炁现形”持续在街头探索，并致力于将可传达的“成果”带回到公共空间之中。比起成果，她们更加重视从“灵感”降临到作品呈现之间“顺理成章”的过程和方法，以及借由这些方法带来的人与人之间的能量流动与连结。
